Your Fridge is Holding Your Food Hostage

I rant constantly against the Internet of Things, as all three of my readers will attest. When a leader in the field of security rants, it's time to pay attention. I'm with him right up to 'a government that prides itself on minimal intervention' of course. Give it a read.

• The slippery slope has gotten slipperier. The European Union's European Council, which sets political direction an priorities, has approved a set of proposals that would require Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to block videos that promote terrorism, incite hatred, or contain toxic, violent content. The UK already has hate speech laws, under which it's not ok to complain about Muslims or ISIS blowing up things and killing people. You can be prosecuted for this.
• Think about this for a second. These are laws on what you can't say. Upside Down World has taken its next illogical step. Thoughtcrime will run rampant. People can't be allowed to go around thinking and saying what they want.
• America has issues but Freedom of Speech is still mostly alive.

Another Great American entered the legal system this week, as some lady is suing Jelly Belly, the company that makes the best flavored jelly beans, because she didn't know there was sugar in there.  This is the lowest form of American, abusing the legal system like a pro. Did all that sweetness come from cardboard, perhaps? When does personal responsibility enter the equation (never)? Spend more time on gray matter and less on stuffing your face.

Jelly Bellys are a magical little piece of well-flavored sugar. I had the opportunity to tour the factory, which was a great time. At one point, the guide told us that they used 45 tons of sugar daily. I brightened up and let the group know that was more than I use. They were amused.

• I just saw a commercial for a game show called Beat Shazam, with Jamie Fox. Proving there's absolutely nothing new in Hollywood, this is directly stolen from a show called Name That Tune. Next season there will obviously be a Beat Shazam II.

Ben & Jerry's in Australia are protesting the inability of gays to get married. They are going about this by not allowing two scoops of the same ice cream on the same item. The effects of this action are being felt across the nation, with rioting breaking out in Brisbane. The government has stated that they will not be dictated to, especially by American concerns, but have told reporters, off the record, that they are preparing for widespread looting and possible large scale deaths. They are very quietly drafting same-sex marriage legislation. The rest of the public is very confused, as they never order two scoops of the same flavor.

• That didn't take long...the UK government is getting ready to pass legislation modifying business' encryption of data, so it can be handed to them upon request. In other words, deliberate backdoors. Hmmm... a nail bomb was detonated by a suicide bomber and now there is convenient legislation to allow the government access to encrypted data. What incredible timing! Also coincidental is the fact that UK businesses were ramping up their encryption to make data safer against hackers. This will thwart their safety measures and now the hacker is the UK government. I wonder if the citizens can take a break from protesting Trump or whatever today's cause is to notice this.

In the Just Desserts Department, three Nigerian scammers have received 235 years of total jail sentences in the US.  Three down, three thousand to go.

• We haven't had a great headline in a while, so I give you "Husband files for divorce after wife's girlfriends sent him videos of them having lesbian group sex"

Hunter College will be offering An Abolition of Whiteness course this fall to discuss the role of "White supremacy and violence."  After graduation, students are invited to return for "Decorating your parents' basement because you can't get a job due to putting An Abolition of Whiteness on your resume."

Just in case you haven't had your daily fix of College Lunacy, in good old Washington state, black Evergreen State College students have siezed the campus. The only outspoken opponent, a professor, has been advised to hold his classes offsite, as it's not safe for him to come on campus. The miscreants have, of course, filmed their activities and posted them on social media (because nothing exists or happens until it's posted on Faceyspaces) and are now upset that everyone can see them, so they're demanding the videos be removed. The students are stopping cars, looking for the professor or information about his whereabouts.

In any other universe, SWAT would be out with all their lovely military gear, only they can't because the administrators will not let them on campus, promising a "major review" to find out why the students are so upset. They don't want to discipline the children - they want to find out why they're upset. The students, of course, have demands, including annual sensitivity training for staff and police, emphasizing the eradication of anti-black racism (anti-white racism was not mentioned). This link will give you more details (try to look past its very right-leaning bent).

Can you see the resumes?
* Led student riot and takeover of the college.
* Set up roadblock to find white racist professor.
* Demanded institution of African American agenda
* Fuck whitey

If your child and your money went to Hunter College, you might be an upset parent, no? Did you have high hopes for your child's education in actual subjects, as opposed to a degree in siezing the college? If/when graduated, they should probably avoid trying to take over McDonalds, IF their degree qualifies them for the position.

• British Airways had 'a spot of a problem' over the weekend. BA had to ground all flights out of London's two main airports, affecting call centers and online booking sites. More than 1,000 fights were canceled and 75,000 passengers stranded. At fault was another "global IT system failure," reportedly the sixth such incident in the last year. 
• A power surge was blamed, allegedly so strong it affected the backup system's ability to start. BA is still working to figure out the precise causes. There are two large data centers near its headquarters.
• The union representing the IT workers blames the incident on outsourcing to India, which didn't understand how to restart the system.
• As someone who has done similar work, I'm calling shenanigans. My non-profit job had incredible redundancy and backup capabilities. Why didn't British Air? More accurately, why didn't they work? Weren't these systems routinely tested, as necessary?
• With the CEO blaming a power surge, IT blaming outsourcing, and both agreeing that the backup system failed to start, we have a notable situation.

If your day seems to be going downhill, imagine being a New York City policeman, chasing a runaway horse on 11th and 52nd. There were ten cars in the chase. The horse, meanwhile, took a left on 51st and hid out in a Chinese massage parlor, where everything had a happy ending.